NHS England estimates that more than 4 million people were waiting for planned, nonurgent surgeries such as cataract removals or hip replacements in England at the end of June 2017. This is the highest number in 10 years, and the second-highest number on record. In 2007, the U.K. government introduced a requirement for hospitals to treat 92 percent of people waiting for planned hospital care within 18 weeks. This initiative reduced the number of people waiting for surgery from 4.1 million in 2007 to 2.5 million in 2009. However the number has been steadily increasing over the past eight years.